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Medingen Abbey or Medingen Convent () is a former Cistercian nunnery. Today it is a residence for women of the Protestant Lutheran faith () near the Lower Saxon town of Bad Bevensen and is managed by the Monastic Chamber of Hanover (''Klosterkammer Hannover''). == History == A founding legend ascribes the convent's origins to a lay brother called Johannes; the convent's history from its founding to the election of abbess Margaretha Puffen was formerly depicted in a cycle of 15 painted wooden boards, that were destroyed in the fire of 1781; the only surviving copy is the affix in Johann Ludolf Lyßman's ''Historische Nachrichten'' (1772).〔Lyßmann, Johann Ludolf, gewesenen Predigers zu Closter Meding, und nachherigen Superintendenten zu Fallersleben: Nachricht von dem Ursprunge, Anwachs und Schicksalen des im Lüneburgischen Herzogthum belegenen Closters Meding, dessen Pröbsten, Priorinnen und Abbatißinnen, auch fürnehmsten Gebräuchen und Lutherischen Predigern &c. nebst darzu gehörigen Urkunden und Anmerkungen bis auf das Jahr 1769 fortgesetzt. Mit Kupfern. Halle, 1772.〕 The legend has it that Johannes claimed divine guidance in his quest to build the new convent. The community was founded 1228 in Restorf am Höhbeck by Johannes and four nuns who joined him in Magdeburg, but the group did not stay there. For unknown reasons, they moved on to Plate near Lüchow and later Bohndorf, before they eventually settled in Altenmedingen, where the first buildings were consecrated on 24 August 1241.〔Vogtherr, Thomas: Medingen. In: Dolle, Josef (ed.): Niedersächsisches Klosterbuch. Vol. 3, Bielefeld 2012, p 1044.〕 The military road passing through the convent yard presented an ever-present danger of attacks or arson, so the convent decided to move one last time, to the village of Zellensen, today's Medingen. The new church was consecrated on 24 August 1336.〔(''Der Umzug in das heutige Medingen / Moving to today's Medingen'' ) at www.kloster-medingen.de. Retrieved 4 June 2013〕 1479 saw the advent of the convent reforms under the influence of the ''devotio moderna''. Many convents at that time did not follow the Cistercian rule very strictly; nuns were allowed to keep their belongings and keep in touch with their relatives once they joined the convent. The Cistercian order was re-established and the prioress Margarete Puffen was made an abbess in 1494.〔() at www.inschriften.net. Retrieved on 5 June 2013〕 After the reforms, a scriptorium became one of the focal points of the convent and to this day a large number of manuscripts found worldwide can be attributed to the sixteenth-century nuns of Medingen. Hymns (''Leisen'') noted down in these texts are still part of both Catholic and Protestant hymnbooks today, e.g. in the current German Protestant hymnal ''ドイツ語:Evangelisches Gesangbuch'' EG 23 "Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ", EG 100 "Wir wollen alle fröhlich sein" and EG 214 "Gott sei gelobet und gebenedeiet", even though they were wrongly dated to the 14th century by the music historian Walther Lipphardt.〔Achten, Gerard (1987). ''De Gebedenboeken van de Cistercienserinnenkloosters Medingen en Wienhausen'' in: ''Miscellanea Neerlandica 3'' (= FS Jan Deschamps), pp. 173–188.〕 The Reformation attempted to be introduced in Medingen in 1524, was met with resistance from the nuns. They hid their confessor in the attic, publicly burned the Lutheran bible and almost faced the dissolution of the convent. In 1541, the Uelzen ''Landtag'' decided to ensure the economic security of Medingen and the five other convents nearby. This was in the nobility's interests, because their unmarried daughters could benefit from the livelihood and education befitting their status. In 1542, all of the convent's goods and earnings were confiscated and contact between the nuns and their family was prohibited. The abbess, Margareta von Stöterogge, did not give in to the demands of bringing all remaining property to Celle, but rather went to Hildesheim for two years, taking the convent's archive and valuables with her. It took her brother, Nikolaus von Stöterogge, the Mayor of Lüneburg, ten years to convince her to return. Eventually, in 1554, the convent became Protestant and from then on, the ''Klosterordnung'' (convent order) was defined by the ''Landesherr'' or territorial lord.〔(''Die Reformation / The Reformation'' ) at kloster-medingen.de. Retrieved on 5 June 2013〕 After the Reformation had been introduced, life changed drastically: The incumbents were now allowed to marry, but had to leave the convent when they did so. In 1605, they replaced the traditional Cistercian habit with an attire in accordance with the convent order introduced by Duke William in 1574. The Thirty Years' War left its mark on the convent and its surrounding area. A new convent order was introduced by ''Kurfürst'' (elector) George Louis in 1706.〔(''Das Leben nach der Evangelisierung / Life after the Reformation'' ) at kloster-medingen.de. Retrieved on 5 June 2013〕 Most of the convent buildings were destroyed in a fire in January 1781, although valuable possessions like the archives and the abbesses' crosier from 1494 were able to be salvaged. The ruins were demolished in 1782 and the convent re-built in the early neoclassic style. Completed in 1788, the new buildings were consecrated on 24 August.〔(''Der Brand 1781 und der Wiederaufbau / The fire of 1781 and Reconstruction'' ) at kloster-medingen.de. Retrieved on 5 June 2013〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Medingen Abbey」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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